Multicultural Advisory Council of B.C.'s new chair: Tenzin D. Khangsarmulticultural advisory chair with ties to rich immigrant investorsBy Bob Mackin, TheTyee.ca (originally published Monday, January 6, 2014) The province's Multicultural Advisory Council has a new Chairman. Veteran federal Conservative aide Tenzin D. Khangsar was appointed by cabinet on Dec. 11 for a two-year term. The Quebec-raised, Tibetan-Canadian ran a third-place campaign as a Conservative in the Brossard-La Prairie riding during the 2006 federal election. For the next six years, he held a succession of Parliament Hill postings, including chief of staff to Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney and Treasury Board president Tony Clement. Since September 2012, Khangsar has worked as managing director and executive vice-president of Vancouver-headquartered RCI Capital Group Inc. On its website, RCI claims to be the largest manager of immigrant investor capital in Canada, is involved in junior and mid-market energy and resource companies and provides aboriginal trust fund management services. RCI president John Park's board includes Clark supporter Stockwell Day, whose federal Conservative cabinet duties under Prime Minister Stephen Harper included International Trade. The B.C. Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists shows no current entries for RCI, but two well-known Liberal names are listed in the archives as ex-RCI lobbyists. Clark's then-husband Mark Marissen lobbied for RCI from September 2007 to September 2008. Andrew Wilkinson, who became minister of Technology, Innovation and Citizens' Service last June, was retained by RCI from June 2007 to November 2009.

A video crew from Newstapa, the Korea Center for Investigative Journalism, recently visited Vancouver to probe RCI's role in the 2011 Capstone Mining Corp. takeover of Far West Mining Ltd., which involved Korea Resources Corp. (KORES). RCI donated $11,500 from 2011 to 2013 to the BC Liberals, including $5,000 to Kevin Falcon's leadership campaign in 2011. In 2013, the company donated $4,500 to unsuccessful Coquitlam-Maillardville Liberal candidate Steve Kim. Kim was appointed to a two-year term as a director on the Khangsar-chaired MAC on Dec. 31. Kim is a former chair of the C3 Korean Canadian Society, which was founded by 2009-appointed Tory Senator Yonah Martin.

Vancouver journalist Bob Mackin is a frequent contributor to The Tyee. Find his previous stories published by www.TheTyee.ca here.

RCILeaks.Org Note: Khangsar’s RCI Capital Group sponsored Yonah Martin and Steve Kim’s ‘C3 Leadership Conference’ in 2013. RCI President John Park gave keynote address. Korean-Canadian Senator Yonah 'Kim-Martin' is also ‘Honorary Patron’ of the Stephen Harper-endorsed Canada Korea Foundation (CKF) which then Kenney aide Khangsar helped RCI Capital Group establish in February 2011. John Park is founding Chairman of the CKF. RCI Capital Group Director and shareholder Stockwell Day is also a CKF director. Very interesting are the ties that bind.

Bad. Bad. Banksters.

It‘s public knowledge amongst prominent Taiwanese immigration agents and others that for a period in 2007, John Park recklessly risked numerous immigrant investors' $120,000 Federal Immigrant Investor Program (FIIP) deposits by improperly holding them in the private corporate account of his Vancouver company RCI Capital Group Inc. (RCI) instead of an IIROC-regulated, audited, and depositor insurance protected escrow account in his Montreal-based Renaissance Capital Inc. Renaissance, also wholly owned by Park, was the company investors signed their FIIP investment agreements with. It is a self-regulated member of both the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Canadian Investment Protection Fund (CIPF) whereas RCI in Vancouver is a private non-reporting corporation. Renaissance President Sylvain Payette did nothing to stop these investor ‘escrow’ funds from quietly being diverted away from Renaissance to the Vancouver corporate operating account controlled by his boss John Park. A senior executive of RCI, SVP Sean Riley, only found out details of the practice in December 2010, the year he had moved from Vancouver to Beijing and taken over marketing duties as the Managing Director for RCI Group operations in China and Taiwan (and a concurrent role as SVP of a RCI joint venture with an American investment firm). Accompanied by Renaissance Capital's Montreal-based in-house lawyer Guillaume Audet, Riley visited numerous agents in Taipei in early December 2010. It was the first time a senior RCI representative had visited the territory since December 2007. Several agents, including the owner of Taiwan’s largest agency (Rick Chang of Luby Consultants), told Riley about the 2007 escrow issue and said it was a major reason why most Taiwanese agents (who operate under strict Taiwanese government regulations protecting consumers) had stopped sending clients to RCI in 2007. Riley learned that the close-knit agent community had become suspicious as to why there was a change in RCI policy to wire funds to Vancouver instead of Montreal. Riley told whoever he met that it was certainly prudent thinking to be protective of one’s clients’ interests. He even congratulated the owner of Taiwan’s largest agency for his integrity and being careful to do the right thing for his client’s welfare. They had a very long talk about the matter. Riley thought it best to frankly admit to any who asked that he did not know why the practice had occurred, that he agreed it was a bad idea, and that with a lesson learned, it was not being done anymore. He explained that all FIIP escrow funds were once again being held only in Renaissance Capital’s Montreal escrow account where they were protected under the auspices of the CIPF. Several agents expressed relief of this news and said they would either recommence doing business with RCI or at least consider switching to the company. How soon after John Park bought RCI in June 2006 he started diverting some escrow funds to Vancouver Riley did not know. In late March 2011, while on a trip with Sylvain Payette to Taiwan, he took the opportunity to ask Payette why he allowed Park to divert the escrow funds to Vancouver for the FIIP. Payette confided that he was pissed at Park about it but there was nothing he could do. Riley also later determined this issue was a major contributing factor as to why both RCI’s Vancouver-based Taiwan marketing manager Chloe Wang, and soon after, Renaissance’s Montreal-based Senior Legal Counsel and in-house lawyer Denis Buron, would both quit RCI in early 2008. Buron, in fact wrote a scathing resignation letter to Park and Payette saying he had to quit because of what he found out about RCI. RCI reverted back to depositing escrow funds in Renaissance only after considerable complaints from long-time agents and a noticeable loss of new clients. Luckily for the investors, John Park didn’t lose the ‘escrow’ funds while playing with them and his private Vancouver company did not become insolvent while these funds were at risk.

RCILeaks Editor's Note: Renaissance Capital (RCI) president Sylvain Payette waited over six weeks before going to China to help jailed RCI employee. In my view from what he told he, it was only when Quebec media heard of the story and started telephoning him about it that he decided he should make it look like he was helping the guy. It seems that to create an illusion that he was 'suddenly' a man of action, he waited until he was on his way to the Montreal airport for Beijing before he returned calls from reporters. He bragged to his colleague about the timing of his airport-bound callbacks to media upon his arrival in Beijing. That said, to be fair, he did appear to be very concerned for the welfare of his jailed employee as well as its effect on the company after he finally arrived in Beijing. Nonetheless, all too little too late in our view. We can only imagine what Alessandro's thoughts would be but I heard his family was understandably irrate. It is interesting to note that RCI subsequently hired a Chinese law firm whose instructions were to protect its interests in the case while Alessandro's family hired its own lawyers to act on his behalf.

MONTREAL - A Montreal man has spent the last 6½ weeks under arrest in China. Renaissance Capital Lawyer Alessandro Di Giacobbe is an employee of Renaissance Capital, which works in the immigrant investor field. Sylvain Payette, president and CEO of the company, is in China to find out what happened to his employee.

Payette knows Di Giacobbe was working in Renaissance Capital's Beijing office on June 16 when Chinese authorities entered the premises. There's some confusion about what happened next.

"They were there to review the visas and for some reason that we don't understand, Alessandro got into an altercation with the officer," Payette told CBC News via cellphone Sunday as he travelled to the airport.

Payette said it's possible Di Giacobbe and an officer grabbed each other at some point. A Chinese website reports Di Giacobbe pushed the official and broke police equipment.

It took more than a month for Di Giacobbe to be charged, Payette said, and he still hasn't been able to find out what those charges are. He hasn't been allowed to contact Di Giacobbe, and neither has Di Giacobbe's mother.

"I just don't understand what is happening, that's why I'm flying to China," he said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it's aware a Canadian has been arrested in China. The ministry said privacy laws prevent it from giving further information other than to say that it has offered consular services.

CBC Reader Comments:"Why has it taken sooooo long (6 1/2 weeks) for an official from this company to go to China to investigate this situation? Di Giacobbe's family must be irate and worried sick! "

"I would hope that someone I worked for, would become pro-active immediately if I disappeared in a thrid world country!"

"Can't Payette just pick up the phone? He obviously needs an excuse to get away from his wife and kids."

RCI lawyer Alessandro Di Giacobbe, 28, has been in custody for almost 2 months under vague circumstances

MONTREAL - A 28-year-old Montreal man has been imprisoned in China for almost two months under circumstances that remain vague.

Alessandro Di Giacobbe, a lawyer for Renaissance Capital Inc., was arrested in mid-June.

Police entered the Beijing offices of the brokerage firm on June 16 to check visas for the many foreign workers employed by the company, which serves business people who want to enter Canada under the Immigrant Investor program.

"They came to our premises to review the visas of our Canadian employees," said Sylvain Payette, president and CEO of Renaissance Capital International Inc., which uses RCI's offices in the Chinese capital.

"For some reason, Alessandro got into a fight with one of the officers, but it's not known why it happened."

Payette, who left over the weekend to Beijing to meet with Canadian authorities in China, says Di Giacobbe's visa was in order and there no were no direct witnesses to the scuffle.

"People entered the room after the fact, when they heard noise and shouting."

The young lawyer has been in jail since and it's unclear whether charges have been laid.

According to Payette, Canadian embassy representatives visited the Montreal native a couple of days after his arrest.

"The embassy told us at that time that he could be held up to 37 days after which the police must either release him or charge him."

Di Giacobbe has been in jail in Beijing for 47 days and it's unclear whether charges have been laid.

"I've been working with Alessandro," said Payette. "He's a fine young gentleman and I don't understand exactly what happened. I'm very concerned."

A spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs told The Canadian Press that the Minister Lawrence Cannon is aware of the arrest and is in contact with Di Giacobbe and his family, but declined further comment.

RCILeaks Editor's Note: A hapless victim of machinations beyond his control, and of which he wasn't even aware, AlessandroDi Giacobbe was held for several months without charges but eventually was charged with having a wrestling match with a police officer then convicted of obstructing that government official in the course of his official duties. In total he was in a Chinese jail cell for almost 8 months before being released, taken directly to the airport and deported. Upon return to Canada he considered suing RCI but they threatened him with further legal costs which made the worn-down young lawyer relent rather than continue the ordeal. Di Giacobbeeventually recovered from his ordeal and was luckily able to resume legal practice in Quebec without any sanctions from the bar. He had suffered enough. Yet, John Park and RCI continue to operate with impunity. Money talks.

This travesty has never been reported in the media. Ironically, Sylvain Payette jokingly once said he himself should write a book about the ordeal. As if it was Payette who had to suffer such a tragedy.

In early February of 2010, soon after RCI SVP Seán Riley (aka 瑞利山) first arrived in China to take over as RCI's Managing Director in that country and undertake a role as RCI's Chief Representative with full legal responsibility for the company's operations and staff in the country, RCI owner John Park told him of his idea to have a connection of his pay-off certain unnamed Public Security Bureau ("PSB") police officials in order to help in the effort to repair and rebuild the company's reputation and try to protect it from any future problems akin to the events and problems of visits from police and tax officials that transpired in 2009. A subsequent PSB advisory to Chinese immigration agents country-wide that RCI was flouting industry regulations and bad to do business with, effectively blacklisted RCI in China for a year.

For what hopefully are quite obvious reasons, Riley told Park it was not necessary at all and made very clear to him Riley's view that doing so might only lead to more problems, not to mention the incredible risks and legal implications in doing so. Riley told Park to be patient and let him rebuild RCI's reputation the right way - by taking the high road - via hard work and simply improving RCI services and legitimately repairing agent relationships.

Nevertheless, Park insisted in hiring a guy a a powerful RCI director had recommended to him, to help with what Park called 'public relations.' This guy, a local Beijinger named Dannes Ye, was to be kept around just in case there were problems with officials. Taken by surprise, Riley vigorously objected to the need of even hiring the guy but Park insisted. So, Riley had to reluctantly add Mr. Ye - Park's so-called "insurance policy" - to RCI Capital's Beijing Representative Office payroll.

Dannes Ye, unlike all other RCI staff in China who reported to Riley, reported directly to John Park but Riley watched him carefully in order to do all he could to make sure Ye did nothing to put the company and its employees in jeopardy.

And the best way to assure that was to make sure he did absolutely nothing at all.

Mr. Ye didn't speak English and seemed mostly content to just collect a handsome pay-check for doing absolutely nothing so an uneasy arrangement of what you might say was mutual detente and uneasy tolerance to his presence ensued for a while. Riley even tried to see if Ye knew how to market since Park had given him the pithy title of Senior Marketing Manager.

Nonetheless, a month after he started, the guy asked to meet Riley and through a staff interpreter requested Riley to review his written plan to bribe some officials. Apparently John Park still had him working on this scheme and it would require Riley's approval to requisition funds for it.

Riley had one of his Beijing office staff translate the so-called plan into English so he could determine exactly what this fellow was up to and simply nip it in the bud. It turned out Park's "insurance policy" scheme would require doling out about 500,000 Chinese Yuan - to whom and where - Riley never even bothered to ask. What Riley did was simply to meet the chap and through an interpreter again say it wasn't necessary and that Riley was handling things his way. He politely declined the expenditure, smiled, and thanked the fellow for his work.Riley subsequently let John Park know of his decision and that was the last he heard of it for a long while. Park seemingly acquiesced but nonetheless warned Riley that he had better be right by insisting he do things his way. The two colleagues differed greatly on how best to conduct business in a foreign country.

Hmm, thought Riley, since when did having good morals and insisting to do things the hard way - on the up and up, and by an honest day's hard work - become fodder for such criticism? Since working with a guy like John Park.

"Well, you know what? I'd rather be ethically right than morally wrong,"stated Riley.

RCILeaks.Org Editors Note: In February 2013, John Park confirmed that Dannes Ye was still on the payroll of RCI's Beijing Representative Office. Did Park follow through with his plan to bribe police after Riley's June 2011 departure? Good question. Did what was once merely 'conspiracy to bribe foreign police officials' turn into actual bribery? What's your guess?

RCI Capital's unravelling: A frank analysis of a company gone terribly wrong

"I could have been a contender." Isn't that the lament of all too many a once proud and talented underdog or small company who fought their way to the top of the heap only to see it all crumble due to their own folly? That's certainly RCI's story. But its meteoric rise and fall is sadly more reminiscent of the recent Charlie Sheen splashdown than Rocky Balbao's heroic epic.

It would seem RCI owner John Park was too busy drinking tiger blood and scheming short cuts to the top or manipulating the goodwill of those around him when he would have been better advised to just work a bit harder and keep his nose clean.

But no, this is instead a tale of self-defeating greed and ambition, needless corruption, and ultimitely, the downfall of yet another small-time tryant.

RCI had the promise of being a great company on its way to becoming a Schedule I Canadian bank and international dynamo. And it could have been too; had not the dreams and hopes of the many good people who toiled to make it so not been so recklessly torn asunder by a conniving despot blindly intent on self-destruction.

John Park is the author of his own misfortune. Of his own free will, he deliberately chose to cast his dye and pollute the Rubicon river.

Alas, no pity for this culprit. There is only the karma-crushing whack of natural justice, and the fervent hope a hard lesson might somehow be learned here.

Arab Spring. Korean Fall.

Evidence of RCI Immigration Fraud

Renaissance Capital Insiders Leak to CIC

Hot Stuff!

(October 2012) A whistle blower and former senior manager of Montreal-based Renaissance Capital Inc. (RCI), an IIROC-regulated investment dealer, and a company wholly-owned by Korean-Canadian John Park, president of RCI Capital Inc. in Vancouver, has come forward to RCILeaks.Org, plus mainstream press as well as public authorities with documented evidence and allegations from himself and other former RCI insiders of how they determined that RCI and its principals systematically provided fake Canadian addresses to foreign national immigrant investors, plus their dependents, and supplied that information to Citizenship & Immigration Canada (CIC), and perhaps other relevant authorities, so the wealthy investors could appear to be staying in Canada while in fact living offshore, and not meeting minimum residency requirements.

The evidence also seems to suggest that RCI used the false information to fraudulently obtain Canadian permanent resident cards for possibly hundreds of RCI clients. Both Renaissance Capital and RCI Capital Group have facilitated well over 4000 high-net worth immigrant investors (plus their families for a total of over 10,000 persons) since the affiliated firms were founded in 1996.

Although Vancouver-based John Park only purchased RCI and Renaissance in 2006 and is currently sole owner, prior to that he was, and always has been, founding president and managing director of RCI Capital Group Inc. and the Park family corporate trusts that own the entire RCI Group.

Fraud-busting crime fighter Jason Kenney, the RCMP, as well as Quebec police, Investissement Quebec,Immigration Quebec,and IIROC,need to investigate. RCI whistle blowers have already been in contact with authorities. -30- Stay tuned to mainstream and digital media sources for further exclusives as this story continues to develop. Occupy RCI.

John Park's first-evermedia interview

Editor's Note: Barely out of the starting gate, Bank of China (BOC) cooperation with RCI Capital Group was suspended after June 2009. RCI was caught by authorities conducting public seminars with local BOC managers in Fujian province. RCI's actions were seen as a blatant attempt to bypass long-established government regulations that allow only licensed Chinese immigration agencies - with significant consumer protection insurance and under well-established rules of conduct - to conduct migration promotional activities.

"Will RCI Capital survive 2014?
IT'S HIGHLY DOUBTFUL!" ~Linda Chen

Occupy RCI!

Hear us roar, "Occupy RCI!"

To paraphrase the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes of Sinope, "Discourse on virtue and they pass by in droves, whistle and dance the shimmy, and you've got an audience."

In today's world, where the public is inundated with all sorts of fluff, attention is drawn away from important issues lost in the woods of obscurity. To get people to pay attention so that they might finally do something about RCI and John Park, it takes something sensational. To be newsworthy, it's most often only the stuff that is also scandalous and titillating that stirs people’s blood into action. The truth about RCI is just that.

This websitedelivers what it takes to ensure maximum public attention to a corporate villain that needs to be held accountable.

RCILeaks.Org is whistling. Now watch a scoundrel dance the shimmy. ~Anonymou5

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.